Organic Bytes
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young boy with a seedling in soil in his hands
SUPPORT OCA & CRL

Keep it Real

There is a compelling argument that soil and regenerative agriculture are the keys to reversing climate change. 

We believe that, and we believe that the increasing adoption of regenerative principles is taking farming in the right direction. But we can’t be complacent.  

For instance, a recent announcement of a global center for regenerative agriculture in Canada sounded promising. But dig a little deeper. 

The center is a project of the global agritech company Terramera “fusing science, nature and artificial intelligence to transform how food is grown and the economics of agriculture” and “powered” by Microsoft Azure.  

We have an important fight on our hands to scale up the adoption of regenerative practices AND maintain the integrity of regenerative farming.

Stopping big agritech companies eroding the concept of regeneration, in the same way they’ve eroded so much of the world’s soil, is a big part of our daily mission.

Through your donations to either Organic Consumers Association or Citizens Regeneration Lobby, you can be a part of that mission.

Make a tax-deductible donation to Organic Consumers Association, a 501(c)(3) nonprofit  

Support Citizens Regeneration Lobby, OCA’s 501(c)(4) lobbying arm (not tax-deductible)

Donate $100 or more and we’ll send you a copy of Ronnie’s new book

Click here for more ways to support our work


seeds on spoons
VIDEO OF THE WEEK

Seed Keepers

For years now, pesticide industry giants have peddled their genetically engineered technology kits: modified seeds and the herbicides that go with them. Communities on the frontlines of GM agriculture bear the brunt of this dangerous system.

A new film, “Seed Keepers and Truth Tellers: From the Frontlines of GM Agriculture,” gives a voice to these communities.

It explores the origins of genetically engineered seeds, their implications and how farmers, from Senegal to Iowa, and from the Philippines to Hawaii, are fighting for food sovereignty. 

This animated short film is a collaboration between PAN North America and Hawai’i Alliance for Progressive Action (HAPA), in partnership with PAN Asia Pacific.

It premieres on Tuesday, November 17 with an online launch party and panel discussion.

READ MORE About ‘Seed Keepers and Truth Tellers: From the Frontlines of GM Agriculture’

REGISTER for The Launch Party and Panel Discussion


PFAS family tree
TOXIC CHEMICALS

Sticky Problem

In 1954 the revolutionary “nonstick” Teflon pan seemed like a household miracle. Today we know that the perfluorinated chemicals that keep food from sticking to the pan are toxic and cancer-causing.

It took more than 50 years to understand that this chemical revolution was really a train wreck.

Per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances (PFAS) are called “forever chemicals” because they don’t break down in the environment. Instead they stick around and find their way into our air, soil and drinking water. They have been found in eggs, meat, milk, fish, fruits and vegetables. They are still deliberately added to things like personal care products, pesticides, fast food packaging, paints and stain resistant products.

Scientists estimate that there is no corner of the globe free of PFAS pollution and most humans carry these chemicals in their bodies.

Some manufacturers have begun to remove PFAS from their products but progress has been all too slow.

We can’t clean up the mess until we stop manufacturing these toxic chemicals.

READ ‘PFAS ‘Forever Chemicals’ are Widespread and Threaten Human Health – Here’s a Strategy for Protecting the Public’


Anthony Fauci
GOF HALL OF SHAME

Brilliant Disguise

Polls show he’s America’s favorite doctor. In the official playbook of COVID-19, Anthony Fauci has been portrayed as a reassuring presence in a time of panic, inspiring trust that he was unbiased, non-partisan and strictly scientific.  

Democrats love him for the ease with which he made Donald Trump look bad. Republicans are less enamored, with some pointing to the work of scientist Judy Mikovits (Plague of Corruption), filmmaker Mikki Willis (Plandemic) and Dr. Joseph Mercola which has been steadily chipping away at Fauci’s sacred cow status.

But really, there’s no reason why the search for the truth about the origin of COVID-19 should be a political issue.

Fauci’s career at the NIAID goes back to 1968 and he has directed the nation’s policies on infectious diseases as chief since 1984.

That long career path has given him plenty of scope to militarize infectious disease research post-9/11, deny the evidence of the lab origins of COVID-19 and the legacy of dangerous lab leaks from “contained” facilities—all of which undoubtedly increased the inevitability of a pandemic.

Under that grandfatherly guise, the latest addition to our Gain of Function Hall-of-Shame has a lot to answer for.

READ ‘Anthony Fauci: The Two Faces of America’s Favorite Doctor’

Visit our Gain-of-Function Hall of Shame

SIGN THE PETITION: Stop the Genetic Engineering of Viruses! Shut Down All Biowarfare Labs Now!

TAKE ACTION! Ask the scientists, lawyers and policy experts you know to sign our international Open Letter: ‘Why We Need a Global Moratorium on the Creation of Potential Pandemic Pathogens (PPPs) Through Gain-of-Function Experiments’


World Economic Forum
GLOBALIZATION

Press Pause

Never let a good crisis go to waste, right?

The World Economic Forum’s “Great Reset” sees COVID-19 as an opportunity to make a better world. But who gets to decide what “better” means?

The better world vision of the Great Reset is one designed by globalists and regulated by unelected officials. It includes a plan to transform the global food and agricultural systems and the human diet through genetically modified organisms, lab-made proteins and pharmaceuticals and industrial chemicals.

Globalism as an ideal is losing ground everywhere as we begin to see the full extent of the damage it has caused to our world. The Great Reset is really an attempt at a Great Comeback for the global elite—at the very moment when we need to be focusing on the regional and local.

Make no mistake. From the soft authoritarianism of its name to the dizzying array of neoliberal capitalist think tanks that are behind the project, to the predictably reassuring public faces shilling for the initiative—among them Prince Charles, Greta Thunberg—this is a plan that has the power to derail real progress towards sustainability.

It’s time to press “pause” on this dangerous game. 

READ ‘World Economic Forum’s ‘Great Reset’ Plan for Big Food Benefits Industry, Not People’


SARS-CoV-2 surrounded by a stethoscope and syringes
COVID-19

Transparency

U.S. Right To Know (USRTK) has filed a lawsuit against the National Institutes of Health (NIH). Its aim is to uncover what is known about the origins of SARS-CoV-2 and the risks of biosafety labs and gain-of-function research.

Given the devastation it has wrought over the course of 2020—lives lost, jobs lost, liberties lost—questioning the origins of the SARS-CoV-2 virus may seem indulgent. Surely it’s more important to figure out how we get out of this mess?

But understanding where it came from is important, because how the virus originated shapes how we respond to it, what measures our governments and institutions take, where science directs its energy—and who we feel able to trust.

We applaud the action, which aims to bring some clarity and transparency to the COVID-19 discussion by seeking correspondence with or about organizations such as the Wuhan Institute of Virology and the Wuhan Center for Disease Control and Prevention, as well as the EcoHealth Alliance.

None of us ever want to go through this again and the bottom line is, as USRTK executive director Gary Ruskin says, “Preventing the next pandemic may depend crucially on understanding the origins of the present one.”

On November, 19 at 11:30 a.m. CST, we will host a Facebook Live interview with USRTK Staff Scientist Dr. Sainath Suryanarayanan to find out more about the lawsuit and what it hopes to uncover and to answer your questions. Please join us.

READ ‘U.S. Right to Know Sues NIH for Documents about Origins of SARS-CoV-2’

GET THE FACTS: Read more about our COVID-19 campaign

JOIN OUR FACEBOOK LIVE: ‘U.S. Right to Know Scientist Talks Lawsuit on the Origins of COVID-19’


farmer placing fresh harvested vegetables in a box
FOOD POLITICS

We Need a Hero

President-elect Joe Biden’s victory is not the end of our work—it’s just the beginning. 

We invite you to join us for an exclusive webinar that asks a vitally important first question: Isn’t it about time a real organic regenerative farmer took the helm in the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA)?

We can’t create change by blindly following the same old corporate, Big Ag business-as-usual path.

Radically changing our food and farming system for the better will be possible only if we have a champion of organic and regenerative agriculture leading the USDA. 

President-elect Biden’s current top pick for Secretary of Agriculture is reported to be Heidi Heitkamp, who has a history of anti-environment votes and support for corporate agribusiness. 

We believe he can, and must, do better. That’s why we’ve put together a panel of experts ready to discuss the best (and worst) potential candidates for Secretary of Agriculture—and how you can get involved. 

You’ll hear from: 

• John Boyd, founder and president of National Black Farmers Association, who was considered for Secretary of Agriculture in President Barack Obama’s cabinet

• Joe Maxwell, co-founder of Family Farm Action Alliance; former Missouri state legislator and former Missouri lieutenant governor

• Dr. Francis Thicke, regenerative dairy farmer and top contender for Iowa Secretary of Agriculture in 2010

• Chloë Waterman, program manager for Friends of the Earth’s Climate-Friendly Food Purchasing Program

Join us Tuesday, November 17, 7:00 p.m. CST for a 1-hour panel discussion titled: “We Need a Secretary of Agriculture Who Supports Organic Regenerative Agriculture!”

Register here to join via Zoom or sign up here to join via Facebook

Can’t join live? Register here anyway, and we’ll send you a recording